Chapter 1089: The Ambition of Expansion

"What do you think of the Guiyi Army coming to court to submit, Brother Qingyuan?" On the way back to the government office, Guo Rong shared a carriage with Wu Tingzuo, and recalling the conversation just now, Guo Rong asked Wu Tingzuo.

Wu Tingzuo slowly stroked his sparse beard, a slight smile at the corner of his mouth, and evaluated: "The sincerity in offering their territory is sufficient. It seems the chaos in the Western Regions has indeed made the Cao clan feel the crisis, otherwise they would not have hurried east so hastily. However, how exactly to respond still depends on Your Majesty and the court's intentions!"

Cao Yuangong's statement could be called heartfelt, his emotions sincere, but men like Guo Rong and Wu Tingzuo would not be moved by it. What they pondered were the reasons behind it, and the impact and interests this matter held for the Great Han.

As for Cao Yuangong's repeated assertions that the Guiyi Army's hearts yearned for the court, and that the people of Gua and Sha longed for imperial grace—such words were sufficient for saving face on the occasion, but there was truly no need to take them seriously.

Both were men who had come out of the old era, having experienced those vicissitudes of the world and the shifting winds of change; they had a basic understanding and judgment of many things.

Cao Yuangong's words could be half believed. That the army and people's hearts turned toward the court should be true—besides the high degree of cultural identification, it was also because after persisting so bitterly for so many years, they truly needed the empire's strong support.

As for the choice to submit—simply put, it was the tide of the times, compelled by circumstances.

Of course, this was not to deny the Guiyi Army and the Cao clan. Being able to discern the situation and make the right choice was extremely rare. In this world, there was never a shortage of those who would rather be a chicken's head than a phoenix's tail. Placed across the whole realm, the Guiyi Army might not be worth mentioning, but in Hexi, it had firmly held its place as a true power, and not a few tribal forces were attached to it.

Being willing to abandon ancestral enterprise, to give up cities, territory, and population, also required great boldness. Indeed, once the Guiyi Army offered its territory, it would be like Zhangquan and Wuyue—the substance, everything, would be controlled by the court. If the Guiyi Army was not prepared for this and still vainly sought to hold Gua as its ancestral land, then coming to court to request submission would be superfluous, and might even anger Emperor Liu and the Great Han court.

On the other hand, speaking objectively, in the early tenth century, when the Guiyi Army was declining day by day and nearly on the verge of ruin, the Cao clan was able to shoulder the heavy burden, lead the surviving people of Hexi, stubbornly persist in the harsh environment surrounded by barbarian hordes, and preserve a piece of Han territory in the remote far northwest—this was already rare, already a great achievement.

As Cao Yuangong said, nearly fifty years of navigating between sides, humbling words to forge ties, surviving in the cracks—how easy was that? If one traced back further to Zhang Yichao driving out the Tibetans and fully recovering Hexi, then the Guiyi Army's merits were even greater, for that was a splendid and glorious chapter of history created by Han people in the late Tang, one that still made the discerning yearn for it and lament its passing.

At the same time, although the court had no thought of recovering Hexi in one stroke, it was foreseeable that without the Guiyi Army's steadfast defense of Gua and Sha, the court's return to Hexi would absolutely not go smoothly, and the resistance and difficulties encountered would far exceed imagination.

It was precisely for these reasons that both Wu Tingzuo and Guo Rong showed sufficient courtesy and respect toward the Guiyi Army and Cao Yuangong.

This had also been Emperor Liu's attitude all along—though of course, the Guiyi Army's own efforts were also a factor. Given Emperor Liu's temperament, if the Cao clan failed to read the times, remained obstinate and unyielding, still treating the national territory as private land, then when the Han army marched west, past achievements would not avail them in the slightest...

"Then in your view, Brother Qingyuan, should we march west now?" Guo Rong looked at Wu Tingzuo and asked with a smile.

After thinking seriously for a moment, Wu Tingzuo said: "If we accept their submission, then we should resolve the Ganzhou Uyghurs along with it. Otherwise, even if we accept it, the court would find it difficult to exercise effective control. Moreover, the court should not allow the Ganzhou Uyghurs to long occupy our Han territory and stand independently—a fishbone stuck in the throat!"

"It seems Brother Qingyuan approves of dispatching troops?" Guo Rong said.

"The officers and men of Hexi have long harbored ambitions of westward expansion and a spirit of enterprise. Marching west accords with military sentiment and popular will, and also fits Your Majesty's grand strategy! This time the Guiyi Army has come of its own accord to submit—this can be called a fine opportunity. If we advance from both east and west, the Gansu region can be swiftly pacified, and Hexi fully recovered!" As he spoke, Wu Tingzuo's hand unconsciously waved twice in the air, his expression elated, then quickly restrained, and he added: "Only, the state currently focuses on nurturing the people and does not wish to lightly initiate warfare. Before I came, Your Majesty also instructed that stabilizing the current situation in Hexi should take priority..."

"Under normal circumstances, one should naturally follow the state's grand strategy!" Guo Rong said with bold pride: "But now the situation in Hexi has changed, disorder has arisen, and the Ganzhou Uyghurs harbor treacherous intentions. Since the Guiyi Army has come of its own accord to submit, how could the court refuse a distant visitor? Moreover, I have served Your Majesty for many years and have always advocated adapting to the times, deeply versed in the art of expediency. Since the opportunity has come, how could we let it pass?

"Furthermore, in the northwest now, given the Great Han's strength, dispatching a partial force would suffice; there is no need to mobilize the entire army! Speaking of which, the Liao army's western campaign, while plundering the Western Regions, has also provided convenience for our dynasty to pacify Hexi!"

Hearing this, Wu Tingzuo said: "Indeed! The Liao army crossing the shifting sands to campaign far into the Western Regions—as it now appears, its influence is indeed far-reaching. I wonder what the situation is at present, and how much longer the Xizhou Uyghurs can hold out?"

At this mention, Guo Rong said: "From that Uyghur envoy, we should be able to obtain some genuinely useful information!"

"Duke Ying intends to meet him?" Wu Tingzuo asked.

Nodding slightly, Guo Rong said with a light laugh: "I hear this man had no easy journey east. For a guest from afar, we should still show him courtesy!"

Hearing this, Wu Tingzuo also smiled: "What he brings is probably only news from a few months ago!"

"It should be of some use, at least!" Guo Rong said.

After pondering for a moment, Guo Rong added: "I intend to submit a memorial to Your Majesty regarding the westward advance!"

Before he finished speaking, Wu Tingzuo immediately responded: "I am willing to co-sign with Duke Ying!"

"Haha!" Guo Rong laughed heartily and said: "Dealing with Brother Qingyuan is like drinking fine wine!"

"Likewise!" Wu Tingzuo clasped his hands in salute.

Returning to the government office, after writing the memorial and sending it by fast horse to the Eastern Capital, Guo Rong ordered the Xizhou Uyghur envoy Pule to be summoned. Before coming, Cao Yuangong had specifically explained to Pule Guo Rong's identity and status, telling him to serve with care.

After learning this, Pule was both startled and delighted, almost believing that hope for aid had arrived. Because of his arrow wound, Pule could neither stand nor sit properly before Guo Rong. Seeing his condition, Guo Rong simply ordered a felt blanket to be prepared and had him lie on his side, while he himself sat cross-legged and listened to Pule's account of the situation in the Western Regions.

And Pule had no intention of concealing anything; from his own perspective, he gave a full account of the Liao army's western campaign.

In fact, this was not the Liao army's first western campaign. Crossing the shifting sands to attack the Gaochang Uyghurs—they had done it as early as forty years ago. At that time, the Khitan were in their great expansion period, and the entire region beyond the northern frontier had become their vassals.

Back then, they had broken through Beiting, forcing the Gaochang Uyghurs to acknowledge Khitan suzerainty and pay tribute. In truth, if not for the Khitan's center of rule being in the northeast, given the nomadic peoples' expansionist nature, the Western Regions would long ago have been swallowed up by them.

Even so, over all these years, the Gaochang Uyghurs had been obedient to the Khitan, maintaining a steady frequency of tribute to purchase peace.

However, peace purchased this way was ultimately not secure. When the Khitan's war machine once again pointed west, the Gaochang Uyghurs had absolutely no recourse.

The current Western Regions basically had two powers standing side by side: the Gaochang Uyghurs in the east, the Kara-Khanids in the west, with the kingdom of Khotan squeezed in the south. As for the Gaochang Uyghurs, their strength could not be called weak—a population exceeding a million, and fielding an army of a hundred thousand would be no problem at all.

In fact, regarding the Liao army's western campaign, Gaochang had received advance warning—Emperor Liu's doing—but many developments of human affairs run contrary to common sense.

When they learned the Khitan might march west, the first reaction of the Gaochang ruler and ministers was disbelief. In their view, they had always been on good terms with the Liao, gifts and tribute never interrupted, and the two states had not gone to war in decades—how could they possibly cross the grasslands to attack them, doing something so thankless and unrewarding?

After all, they, the Uyghurs, were also overlords of the Western Regions, a powerful state in their own right......